Claude (auto-RE)
8ecd70f1bc
Static only. Bounding each GamePart's code block by its factory creator thunk (id -> creator recovered for 22 of 24 registrations at 0x8280C000-0x8280F800) puts GamePart_ChallengeMission at 0x82187E60-0x8218CF10. Resolving every string that block references gives the screen's config schema, and the record itself is on disc -- tables.pak schema 54a10697, one copy per language, English entry #64. Six missions: TimeAttack (record Time), ScoreAttack (record Points) and Extra01..Extra04, each with MISSION_ID / REQUIREMENT / REQUIREMENT_DESC / THUMBNAIL / STAGE_DESC / NEW_STAGE and a NORMAL_BUTTON / GRAY_BUTTON pair -- so the screen always lists all six and greys out what is not earned. THE GATE (0x82189970-0x821899D8), read off the code: REQUIREMENT absent -> available REQUIREMENT == "Always" -> available else n = atoi(REQUIREMENT) n == 0 -> locked n < 24 -> test bit n of the word at singleton+80 n >= 24 -> test bit (n-24) of the word at singleton+1956 The singleton is 0x821707C0 (lazy, global 0x828F48BC). So availability is one bit in a progress bitfield and REQUIREMENT is a bit INDEX -- not a stage number, score or difficulty. Values per mission are 🟡: the pool's numeric tokens are 16/25/26/27/29 and 24/28 already appear earlier as font metrics, so they would be deduped -- which fits 24..29 but IDXD dedup makes positional pairing unsound here, so it is recorded as a hypothesis, not a table. Negative: the requirement TEXT is not in GP_CHALLENGE.pak (TextIndex over it = 0 entries; its only prose is embedded font copyright). Its PATH is a per-language branch the loader does not currently reproduce. Next: three stores to +1956 sit in 0x822C7DD0 / 0x822C8748, the same region as the save serializer 0x822C00E8 -- if the bits are save-backed, a hand-written save unlocks all six challenge missions and the last 42 units become one run.
235 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
235 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
# Challenge / EX missions — the stage set, the GamePart graph, and the kind field
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**Status:** ✅ for the static structure (stage set, GamePart ids, the config-section
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switch); 🟡 for the crash mechanism; ❔ for the unlock condition.
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**Method:** static only — `.pe` string/pointer analysis + DuckDB disassembly + disc
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records. No emulator run, no gamepad input.
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**Evidence:** [`captures/challenge-map.txt`](captures/challenge-map.txt),
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`crates/sylpheed-formats/examples/challenge_map.rs`.
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## Why this was worth doing
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The Route-B unit harvest is complete for the **story** campaign (68 of 110 units,
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7 115 defaulted-on-disc values) and stalled there: the remaining units are `*_EX4` /
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`*_EX5` / `*EX` variants that only the challenge missions field. The save's stage
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field addresses those stage records — but setting it to **27** boots to the title and
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then the emulator **exits during the load**, while 1–16 all load normally. This note
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answers *what the challenge missions are on disc* and *why the stage field alone is
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not enough*, so the next runtime attempt is targeted rather than another probe sweep.
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## 1. The disc has exactly 29 stage records, in three families ✅
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`StageResource` (schema `0x3c9ae32e`) in `dat/GP_MAIN_GAME_E.pak`:
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| ids | count | `BackGroundID` | reading |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| `S01`–`S16` | 16 | Lebendorf … PD (real locations) | the **story** campaign |
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| `S18`–`S23` | 6 | `Original` (all six) | the **tutorial** missions |
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| `S24`–`S29` | 6 | Anastasis, Hargenteen ×2, Planet_Lebendorf, Lebendorf, Earth | the **challenge** missions |
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| `Test` | 1 | Earth | developer stage |
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`S17` does not exist. This **matches `weapon.tbl`'s sprite-key set exactly** —
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`stage01…16` + `tutorial01…06` + `challenge01…06` (recorded in
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[static screen config](#)) — which is an independent confirmation of the three-way
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split: 16 + 6 + 6 + Test = 29.
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The `Original` six carry ~43 tokens each while the story and challenge records carry
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51–59, consistent with tutorials having no squadron/route/formation tables.
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## 2. `GP_CHALLENGE.pak` is a screen, not mission data ✅
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151 entries, **0 IDXD objects** — sprites and layout only. So challenge missions are
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*not* a separate data set: they are ordinary `StageResource` records in
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`GP_MAIN_GAME_E.pak`, reached through a different menu. That is why the EX unit
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rosters show up in the same `EnumUnit_S<NN>` tables the story stages use.
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## 3. The GamePart id table — the game's whole screen graph ✅
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`.rdata` pointer array at **`0x820A1630`**, 29 entries, index = GamePart id:
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```
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0 GP_TITLE 10 GP_BUNK 20 GP_STAGE_CLEAR
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1 GP_ADVERTISE_DEMO 11 GP_READY_ROOM 21 GP_MISSION_LOG
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2 GP_SELECT_STORAGE 12 GP_HANGAR 22 GP_GAMEOVER
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3 GP_LOAD 13 GP_ARSENAL 23 GP_DEBRIEFING
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4 GP_SAVE 14 GP_PILOT_LOG 24 GP_DIALOG
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5 GP_EXTRAS 15 GP_SYSTEM 25 GP_TUTORIAL
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6 GP_MOVIE_THEATER 16 GP_DEMO *26 GP_CHALLENGE
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7 GP_MISSION_SELECT 17 GP_MAIN_GAME 27 GP_LEADERBOARD
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8 GP_OPTIONS 18 GP_SELECTOR 28 GP_TEST
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9 GP_MOVIE 19 GP_PAUSE_MENU
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```
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The indices are **not inferred from position** — the image carries the factory
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registration text, e.g.
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`silph::GamePartTask::RegisterToFactory<26, class silph::GamePart_ChallengeMission>::RegisterToFactory is failed!`
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and `<10, … GamePart_Bunk>`, both of which agree with this table. So `GP_CHALLENGE`
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is GamePart **26** and `GP_TUTORIAL` is **25**.
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## 4. A mission-**kind** field selects the stage config section ✅
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Immediately before the array above, `0x820A1600`–`0x820A162C` holds the stage-config
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key list: `BASE_INFO`, `StageResource`, `Background`, `PlayerUnit`,
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`EQUIIP_LIMITATION` *(sic)*, `MODEL_PATH`, `NEW_ITEM`, `LOADING`, `CHALLENGE`,
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`EXTRA`, `FILE`.
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The stage loader picks **one of the last three** by a field at **`object + 144`**, and
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the same three-way switch appears at two independent sites (`0x82184df0` inside the
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all-keys config reader, and `0x82185ed0` in `sub_82185E80`):
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```asm
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lwz r11, 144(r30)
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cmpi r11, 3 ; == 3 -> "EXTRA" (0x820A2160)
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beq extra
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addi r11, r11, -5
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cmpli r11, 1 ; == 5 or 6 -> "CHALLENGE" (0x820A2154)
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bgt file ; otherwise -> "FILE" (0x820A2168)
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```
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Two further sites (`0x82186a60`, `0x82186cb8`) classify the same field as
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`{3, 5, 6}` versus everything else — i.e. **EXTRA and CHALLENGE together are "not an
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ordinary story load"**. The field is initialised to **0** in the constructor
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(`sub_821783D8`, `0x8217851c`, alongside `+148 = 0` — the stage index — and
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`+132 = 2`, `+136/+140 = -1`), and every write to it inside this class
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(`0x82184b10`, `0x82185d48`, `0x82186ab4`) only *clears* it. Nothing in the image
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stores an immediate 3/5/6 into it, so the kind is **supplied from outside the class**
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— by whichever GamePart launches the mission — not derived from the stage number.
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### 4.1 Why the stage-field probe crashes 🟡
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That gives a mechanism for the observed failure: patching the save's stage field to
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27 selects the `S27` **record** while the kind stays **0**, so the loader reads the
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`FILE` section for a stage whose config lives under `CHALLENGE`. A missing section
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then propagates into the load, and the title exits. It fits the evidence (1–16 fine,
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every 24–29 the same failure, `/dev/shm` empty and disk free, so not the resource
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trap) but it is **not proven** — proving it needs a run.
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**Cheap untried discriminator, no new tooling:** patch the stage field to **18–23**
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(the tutorials). If those also die, the failure tracks "record outside the story
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range", and the kind field is the likely gate. It has never been tested — only
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1–16 and 24–29 were.
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## 5. The challenge screen, its six missions, and the unlock gate ✅
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The factory registration sites (`0x8280C000`–`0x8280F800`) give **id → creator** for
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22 of the 24 registered parts, and the creators bound each class's code block. So
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`GamePart_ChallengeMission`'s methods are **`0x82187E60`–`0x8218CF10`** (between
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`GP_BUNK`'s creator `0x82187E38` and its own `0x8218CF10`). Resolving every string
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that range references gives the screen's whole config schema:
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```
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MISSIONS · MISSION_ID · RECORD_TYPE · REQUIREMENT · REQUIREMENT_DESC
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NORMAL_BUTTON · GRAY_BUTTON · THUMBNAIL · STAGE_DESC · TEXT_STAGE
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TEXT_RECORD · NEW_STAGE · "Always" · "Time" · BASE_INFO
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```
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**The record itself is on disc**, in `tables.pak` (schema `54a10697`, one copy per
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language — English is entry #64), *not* in `GP_CHALLENGE.pak`. It names six missions:
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| slot | `MISSION_ID` | buttons / thumbnail | record |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| 1 | `TimeAttack` | `Button_TimeAttack{,_Gray}`, `Thumbnail_TimeAttack` | `Time` |
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| 2 | `ScoreAttack` | `Button_ScoreAttack{,_Gray}` | `Points` |
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| 3–6 | `Extra01`…`Extra04` | `Button_Extra0N{,_Gray}` | — |
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`GRAY_BUTTON` is the locked art, `NORMAL_BUTTON` the unlocked art — so the screen
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always shows all six and greys out what you have not earned. Full dump:
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[`captures/challenge-screen-config.txt`](captures/challenge-screen-config.txt).
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### 5.1 The gate is a bit test against a progress bitfield ✅
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`0x82189870` builds the list, and `0x82189970`–`0x821899D8` is the availability
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decision for each mission:
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```asm
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lookup REQUIREMENT in the mission record ; bl 0x82448C50
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absent -> AVAILABLE
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== "Always" -> AVAILABLE ; strcmp, bl 0x825EDD20
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else n = atoi(v) ; bl 0x825EDCD0
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n == 0 -> LOCKED
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n < 24 -> bit n of word A
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n >= 24 -> bit (n-24) of word B
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bit set ? AVAILABLE : LOCKED
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```
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Word A and word B are read from a **singleton** (`0x821707C0`, lazily constructed
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behind the global at `0x828F48BC`) at offsets **`+80`** and **`+1956`**. So challenge
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availability is one bit in a progress bitfield, and `REQUIREMENT` is that bit's index
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— **not** a stage number, a score, or a difficulty.
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### 5.2 What the six requirement values are 🟡
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The record's numeric tokens are `16`, `25`, `26`, `27`, `29`, and `24`/`28` are
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already in the pool earlier (they double as font metrics), so they would be **deduped
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away** if used. That is consistent with the six values being `24`–`29` — the same
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range as the challenge stage records — but **IDXD dedupes the string pool, so
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positional key/value pairing is not sound here** (the same trap the movie/subtitle map
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hit). Recorded as a hypothesis: reading the values properly needs the record's binary
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index section, not the pool.
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**Negative worth keeping:** the requirement *text* (`TimeAttackRequirement`,
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`Extra01Requirement`, …) is **not** in `GP_CHALLENGE.pak` — building a `TextIndex`
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over it yields **0 entries** and its only wordy payload is embedded font copyright.
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The config's `PATH` is `dat\GP_CHALLENGE.pak+eng\`, a per-language branch, so those
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keys resolve through a naming scheme the current loader does not reproduce. Reading
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them would say in plain English what each mission asks for — worth one more attempt
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via `hash::TOC_NAME_SCHEMES`.
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### 5.3 Why this matters operationally
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If word A / word B are restored from the save, a **hand-written save with those bits
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set unlocks all six challenge missions** — and the savegame round-trip is already
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solved. That would turn the last 42 units of the Route-B harvest into one run instead
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of an unreachable menu. Three `stw`s to `+1956` sit in `0x822C7DD0` / `0x822C8748`,
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i.e. the same code region as the save serializer (`0x822C00E8`) and deserializer
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(`0x822C0380`) — suggestive, **not yet checked**. That is the next step.
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## 6. The unlock condition, from the strings ❔
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Three strings say challenge missions are *announced*, not menu-browsed:
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- `AVSCRIPT_COMMAND_ATTAINMENT_CHALLENGE_MISSION_CARGO_SCORE` — a mission-script
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command that grants challenge-mission attainment from a **cargo score**;
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- `DLG_CHALLENGE_MISSION_AVAILABLE` — the "a challenge mission is now available"
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dialog;
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- `DLG_GO_CHALLENGE_MISSION_MENU` — the prompt that takes you to GamePart 26.
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So the gate is plausibly an in-mission achievement, not a title-menu state — which is
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consistent with `Game Status = GAME_CLEAR` unlocking nothing (measured, refuted).
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Neither dialog key is reachable by xref: they are selected **by index** through a
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config lookup, exactly like the save screen's sprite keys, so there is nothing to
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grep back to. Naming the flag needs the challenge-availability check disassembled
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from the screen side.
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## 7. What this makes actionable
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`roster_target` against the harvested CSV, with the stage families now named:
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| stage | family | roster units not yet read |
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|---|---|---|
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| `S27` | challenge | `f003_ArrowHead_EX4`, `e107_AAFrigate_EX4`, `e010_Attacker_S_EX4`, `e011_Attacker_B_EX4`, `e007_Turret_EX4`, `e008_TurretPlus_EX4` |
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| `S28` | challenge | `f004_DeltaSaber_A_Player`, `f001_DeltaSaber_T_EX5(_el)`, `f003_ArrowHead_EX5`, `f104_Battleship_EX5`, `f105_Cruiser_EX5` |
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| `S25` | challenge | `e101_SDBattleshipEX`, `e102_BattleshipEX`, `e105_CruiserEX`, `e108_ASFrigateEX` |
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| `S29` | challenge | `e101_SDBattleshipEX`, `e102_BattleshipEX`, `e105_CruiserEX` |
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| `S24` | challenge | `e105_CruiserEX`, `e106_DestroyerEX` |
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| `S10` | **story** | `e005_ADAN_ElanTypeQ_Margras` |
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⚠️ **The `S10` row contradicts "the story campaign is complete."** One story stage
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still fields a unit that has never been read. Either `S10` was never flown (it is the
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smallest stage container on the disc — 7 XBG7 resources — so it may be a cutscene
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stage that is not flyable), or the completeness claim was one unit optimistic. Flagged
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rather than resolved: it costs one ordinary story run to settle.
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Remaining coverage: 42 units missing, of which the rosters above account for ~23. The
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rest are not in any stage roster table and need a different lever.
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## Reproduce
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```bash
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cargo run --release -q -p sylpheed-formats --example challenge_map -- <disc-root>
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cargo run --release -q -p sylpheed-formats --example challenge_screen -- <disc-root>
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python3 xenia-rs/zq.py dis 0x82184df0 0x82184e30 # the three-way section switch
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python3 xenia-rs/zq.py dis 0x82185ed0 0x82185f10 # the same switch, second site
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python3 xenia-rs/zq.py dis 0x82189860 0x821899f0 # the challenge availability gate
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```
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